Terrapins Insider - The Washington Post's in-depth coverage of University of Maryland sports - October 5, 2008

Live at The Swamp

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- And the winner for the most creative (and efficient) tailgater I saw during my drive into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium this afternoon goes to ... the man riding the scooter with a cooler as a seat. That...

By Steve Yanda | October 11, 2008; 6:30 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Football
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What to do with a Terp-less Saturday?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Hey everybody, just checking in before I drive to Gainesville for tonight's Florida-LSU match-up and was curious what games you all will be following since Friedgen & Co. are off today. Texas and Oklahoma just kicked off...

By Steve Yanda | October 11, 2008; 12:11 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Football
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Thoughts on Wake

Last night's win over Clemson was unspectacular for the Demon Deacons. They thoroughly outperformed the Tigers offensively, yet had to scramble to pick up the victory. Their defense was solid, though you had to wonder if it would have been...

By Steve Yanda | October 10, 2008; 8:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Football
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Football Friday, I-AA and National Style

While it's a quiet weekend for the Terps (and the Mids and the Hokies), it's a huge college football weekend nationally, and I wanted to make you aware of a few of our college football offerings available on the site...

By Matthew Rennie | October 10, 2008; 7:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Football
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Wake Dominating, Only Up 3-0

Wake Forest should be leading by a lot more than three points, but it can't convert in the red zone. Maryland will be eagerly anticipating Wake Forest's injury report next week because the Demon Deacons are a diminished team without...

By Eric Prisbell | October 9, 2008; 8:58 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Football
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Halftime Thoughts

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- We're at the intermission here at BB&T Stadium, where Wake Forest leads Clemson 3-0. Trust me, folks, the game is not nearly as close as the score would indicate. What happened to the mighty Clemson offense that...

By Steve Yanda | October 9, 2008; 8:57 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Football
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Wake 3, Clemson 0

Wake Forest is dominating Clemson's inexperienced offensive line, but Jim Grobe's team only has three points to show for it. Clemson's longest gain so far has been two yards. Maryland's offensive line is going to need to take a dramatic...

By Eric Prisbell | October 9, 2008; 8:17 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Football
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Terps Hoops: Last? Don't Bet On It

In light of Steve Yanda’s earlier post about Maryland hoops predictions, I wanted to check in with some quick thoughts on my predictions for Maryland and the ACC. First off, I’m really looking forward to this season getting started in...

By Eric Prisbell | October 9, 2008; 12:34 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Evaluation Week: Grading the Defensive Players

All eyes will be on the Wake Forest-Clemson game tonight, and we will have thoughts on the game throughout the day today. I’ll probably blog a couple posts throughout the game tonight as well. But it’s time to evaluate the...

By Eric Prisbell | October 9, 2008; 10:10 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Football
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Wake Forest Kicker Hampered by Injury

Keep an eye on Wake Forest’s kicking situation in the game tonight against Clemson. Heralded kicker Sam Swank, who leads the nation with 10 field goals, is only 50-50 to play because of a quadriceps injury suffered in practice earlier...

By Eric Prisbell | October 9, 2008; 8:58 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Football
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Terps Men's Basketball Preseason Predictions

Ah yes, that's right. It's that time of the year again, when guessers both educated and non- attempt to foretell how things will play out on the hardwood this season. The early read on the Terps? Well, according to two...

By Steve Yanda | October 9, 2008; 7:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Steffy Throws, Seniors Meet and Friedgen Challenges Players

A quick post-practice update tonight: Ralph Friedgen said the season is now a six-game tournament. He said if the Terps beat Wake Forest on Oct. 18, “then we’re all even. But the sand is going out of the hourglass. It’s...

By Eric Prisbell | October 8, 2008; 8:10 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Football
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Friedgen Says He Couldn't Reach Players

Just finished with Ralph Friedgen’s ACC teleconference. Friedgen again repeated that he did not reach the team with his message and that “I wish I had an answer for it. I definitely don’t like feeling the way I do right...

By Eric Prisbell | October 8, 2008; 11:50 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: Football
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Who Have Been the Quirkiest Terps?

This really has nothing to do with Maryland, but it's a bye week and it's too good not to share. Arian Foster is less than 350 yards from becoming Tennessee's career leading rusher. Not surprisingly, some of the media that...

By Matthew Rennie | October 8, 2008; 10:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Football , Men's basketball
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BB&T Classic Tickets on Sale

Given how Saturday's events went for Maryland fans and that this is a bye week for the football squad, this might be a good time to turn our attention to basketball. So ... tickets went on sale this week for...

By Matthew Rennie | October 8, 2008; 9:29 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Evaluation Week: Grading the Offensive Players

First, let's review the evaluation of the coaches. Some 88 percent of pollsters gave Ralph Friedgen a grade of C or worse. Some 87 percent gave Chris Cosh a grade of D or worse. And some 88 percent gave James...

By Eric Prisbell | October 8, 2008; 6:32 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Football
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Scott Named to Maxwell Award List

Just got word that Maryland running back Da'Rel Scott was one of nine players added to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is given to the college player of the year. Scott has 482 rushing yards and he...

By Eric Prisbell | October 7, 2008; 7:47 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Football
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Friedgen's Best Wins

We take requests here at Terrapins Insider. Fredneck asked for a discussion about Friedgen’s best wins, so let’s have at it. Here is my list, but please chime in with disagreements or other nominees: 1) Gator Bowl, Jan. 1, 2004:...

By Eric Prisbell | October 7, 2008; 1:13 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: Football
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Poll: McCain, Obama and Football

Okay, I put a similar poll up last week for the VP debate and it drew considerable interest (so did the debate). So I’ll do it again with tonight’s debate (until I am told to take it down). So enjoy...

By Eric Prisbell | October 7, 2008; 12:37 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (89)
Categories: Football
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The Ike Whitaker Saga

In case anyone missed Zach Berman's story in today's paper, Ike Whitaker appears to be done at Virginia Tech. I raise the story in this forum because Whitaker chose Virginia Tech over Maryland amid the usual fanfare that accompanies a...

By Matthew Rennie | October 7, 2008; 10:02 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: Football
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Evaluation Week: Grading the Coordinators

Today we will examine the performance of both coordinators, and this should be interesting. First, to review, 88 percent of pollsters yesterday gave Ralph Friedgen a grade of C or worse. And I forgot one note on Friedgen that I...

By Eric Prisbell | October 7, 2008; 6:43 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Football
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JV Game Roundup

Got a good glimpse of Maryland’s future at the JV game today. I watched the entire thing in College Park. The opponent was a tough-as-nails Charlotte-based North Carolina Tech Preparatory Christian Academy squad that, I believe, had won every game...

By Eric Prisbell | October 6, 2008; 9:22 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Football
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Worst Losses Under Friedgen

We have interesting poll results so far. One way to look at it is this: 88 percent give Ralph Friedgen a grade of 'C' or worse even though Friedgen has led Maryland to a 4-2 record, with victories over two...

By Eric Prisbell | October 6, 2008; 1:52 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Football
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Maryland-Wake Forest Kickoff Set for Noon

The ACC just released its schedule for next weekend (Fla. State-N.C. State is the Thursday night game): Wake Forest at Maryland, RAYCOM, 12 Noon Georgia Tech at Clemson, ESPN or ESPN2#, 12 Noon Virginia Tech at Boston College, ESPN or...

By Matthew Rennie | October 6, 2008; 12:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Football
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Terps' Performance Confuses a Nation

An unranked team losing a conference road game is going to generate the kind of national reaction that, say, USC losing to Oregon State did. But the nature of Maryland's 31-0 loss to Virginia was enough to make national college...

By Matthew Rennie | October 6, 2008; 9:06 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: Football
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Evaluation Week: Grading Friedgen's Performance

Today is the first installment of our weeklong evaluation of Maryland at the season’s midpoint. Throughout the week, we will examine the performance of different units, coordinators and, of course, Ralph Friedgen. We start at the top today with Friedgen,...

By Eric Prisbell | October 6, 2008; 6:20 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Football
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Terrapins Insider: October 5, 2008 - October 11, 2008